Tag Archives: respect

I have always been a hard worker, hate sitting in the office doing nothing and will tackle just about any task.

But just because you are a hard worker, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get the promotion. Often lazy people who do nothing, but just know who to network with, are the ones that seem to get ahead. Maybe I am the one doing it all wrong?

I also don’t need recognition for my hard work, much preferring to do the behind the scenes work and have everything run so smoothly that it appears seamless.

But by being this way, I run the risk of others taking credit for my work. And by making it look easy, others don’t realise just how much work has gone into it and see my worth.

When hard work is not valued, it can lead to demotivation and mystification. Sometimes I really don’t understand why some people get away with things that I would be fired for.

For me, I guess that hard work has to be it’s own reward because I couldn’t adjust my personal standards anyway. Does this earn me respect in the short term? Perhaps not.

But in the long run, I think I am better off. I can see the tangible results of my hard work and feel like I have achieved something at the end of the day. Perhaps not the smartest move, but the happiest for me.

So maybe my worth won’t be recognised everywhere, but when the right people see my value, then their value rises too. And I would much rather be around people who share the same values. That’s just human nature right?

It’s why we choose the partners that we do, have the parents that we have and raise our children to be a certain way.

And you can bet that I will be teaching my daughter the value of hard work, so that that the right people can see her worth, and she has the option to stand on her own two feet whenever she needs to.

There’s nothing quite like that sense of belonging. Being part of company, a team and an event tribe. Believing in the organisation’s mission and being connected to the people around you.

When you believe in a company and what they stand for, it’s so much easier to understand the reasons decisions are made and put up with the stuff you don’t like about a job. You have a unified goal and a reason to keep going.

Being part of a team of people is the best too. Sure it’s about the company and the job, but at the end of the day it’s also about the people. I am sure we’ve all stayed too long in crappy jobs because the people were super nice. I mean you spend 8 hours a day with these people, so it’s a lot easier if you like them!

It’s the in jokes, the fact that someone cares if you don’t show up in the morning, the camaraderie and the shared enemies. It’s what draws people together and keeps the day-to-day activities interesting.

Working on an event with work colleagues have been some of my most enjoyable times as being part of a team. You all band together to solve on the ground problems and spend social evenings together in a more relaxed setting. It’s when you really bond with people, learn all their secrets and see a different side to their personality with the change of environment.

Sometimes, if you are lucky, you end up in a job you love, for a company you like with lifelong friends. I myself am yet to find the holy trinity, but it’s early days yet, considering that I am probably only halfway through my career.

For some, working for another company doesn’t work at all and they are much better off working for themselves. They don’t need that personal contact. Or do they? I think we all need to feel connected. Not all of the time perhaps, but sometimes.

Which is why suppliers are so great. They give you that sense of belonging and working towards a common goal without having to be in your face with their annoying habits all the time. Also, they have to be nicer to you than co-workers.

For me, when I loose respect for the boss, wether it be my immediate manager or the CEO, that’s the begging of the end. Everything flows from the top and the ripple effect causes me to fall back into old habits, begin to disengage from the company, stop caring about the people politics and start looking at Seek online.

We say this all the time- to our partners, our parents, our friends and even our enemies.

But are you really happy for them? Or just jealous and this is a nicer way of saying it?

And quite frankly, to paraphrase Seinfeld- I’m happy for you, but what is it really doing for me?

But you can’t not say it can you?

You are expected to be happy for the newly engaged/newly pregnant/new home owners/new job getters even if a) you don’t want these things for yourself and/or b) your life is really shite at the moment.

So you smile, and say it, even though on the inside you are mentally taking a journey on what the implications of this news is for you.

Sure, I’m happy if my friends are happy, but how do you know if someone is really happy?

I guess you can only go on what people tell you and hope they are being honest with themselves and with you.

So, what is happiness?

Wikipedia states that it is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.

The one I remember from high school Society and Culture studies is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Needs are psychological (physical bodily needs), safety, social (love and belonging), esteem (respect) and self-actualisation (values and morals).

So maybe by saying “I’m happy for you” we are actually performing an act of esteem by being respectful of others.

And really, there’s nothing wrong with that I suppose? If respect is returned to fulfil your needs. Or is that an ultimately selfish notion?

Ok, we got a bit deep there! Just be happy I say and the rest will follow.